School attendance appears to have improved dramatically this year.
Weekly figures for term one show on most days as many as 88 percent of children were at school, much better than the same period last year when the highs were mostly between 62 and 78 percent.
School students watch on as Associate Education Minister Jan Tinetti announces a plan to improve declining school attendance Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro
Despite the improvement, principals are not sure the critical "regular attendance" figure will improve much.
Education correspondent John Gerritsen reports.